Alien: The Illustrated Story

Hard to find

This book does everything it can to capture the look and feel of the original movie. The art looks a little cramped. I suspect earlier editions were printed in a magazine format which would better suit the layouts. But all in all this book is a Must Have for collectors of the series. You might skip some of the later books for any number of reasons. But it would be hard to exclude this one from an Alien illustrated library set. At least, it was for me.

I was 10 when Alien hit the scene in 1979, I heard a lot about the movie and was already a sci-fi fan but was prevented from seeing it for a while by my folks (of course). However, one day while shopping at the Bon Marche (!) in Seattle, I came across a palette of these graphic novels and furtively poured through it while glancing over my shoulder for my mom, laugh. I shuddered when I got to the chestburster scene, it was graphic and Walt Simonson long before his seminal Thor run did terrific work on the art of this adaptation. Checking it out again after 40 years brought that reading session back and was doubly enjoyable since the movie Alien has since become a top tier favorite of mine. Great book all around, recommended. (j4.)

The graphic novel is great for adults and young teenagers. The art is great and is cool if you like the series.

...to flipping through this book at my local bookstore as a youngster. That bookstore was placed right next to a cookie store in my local mall. Mmmm, books and cookies, the best smelling stop in the mall. Anyway, I was so jazzed to see this title offered again. It's pretty much as I remember it. Cool comic book adaptation of the movie by Archie Goodwin. Great Walt Simonson art. However, not all was as awesome as I remembered. The coloring job had me wince ever so slightly as it was produced using the methods of 1970's book production. By this I mean it was colored using actual paints on paper and not colored on the computer using Photoshop. So, the hues in this book aren't as slick as the ones found in comics produced today but they're still good. Although there's one page in the book showing paper that's actually buckled after receiving what I think is watercolor paint. Oddly enough, the effect (or defect) works for the image. Unfortunately, as enjoyable as the book was I had to send it back. Amazon shipped me the item in a flimsy envelope. When it got to me it was heavily damaged. A fold ran the length of the title from the top to bottom and three of the four corners were dented, one seriously. This seems to be a disturbing trend (pre-damaged items) with half of what I've ordered from Amazon as of late. I think Amazon offers great prices but this book was supposed to be new...and in a sense it was. This particular edition was indeed "new to me" but what I expected in a new book was one in (if I may use comic book grading terms) very fine to mint condition. An item in such condition was something I did NOT receive from yet another Amazon transaction. Disappointing to say the least. Alien-The Illustrated Story is definitely deserving of at least four stars. Its a fun comic book adaptation of a great movie. Fans of the franchise and fans of comics should treat themselves to this title. Its a shame that Amazon's shipping practices are not of similar quality. If I could rate said shipping practices they would fall somewhere in the negative-star range. I was once a very happy Amazon customer. No longer. I will try to track this title down elsewhere.

Back in "96" i walked down to my local comic store and picked up an old copy of "Eerie" magazine which was published around late 1979. I was reading it and came across an old ad for graphic novels long out of print. And one of those turned out to be the comic adaptation of the movie "Alien". I wish i could have gotten my hands on that( since i was a huge fan of the movie) I figured i wouldn't have any luck finding it or if i did , it would cost me alot of money. As luck would have it, many years later ,20th century fox released the movie" prometheus" and rereleased this to ti in with the movie. It's written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by Walter Simonson. The adaptation is very faithful to the movie and it also has a few deleted scenes that had i bought this when it originally came out in "79", wouldn't even have known existed till dvd technolgy hit the market when they released the 20th anniversery of Alien on dvd years back. The art work is fantastic and they tried to get the likeness of the characters right. If you are a fan of the movie like i am and you are into graphic novels, you might enjoy this.

i regret only a few things in life, but one was definitely letting go o' a couple o' items during a particularly ascetic period in my late teens. one o' which was this gem by the time 'alien' terrified theater goers i already knew the whole film backwards. back then merch tie-ins were not as strategically released as they are today - and i bought EVERY piece o' alien related product that crossed my path. however the cornerstone o' my collection was a triptych o' books : 'the book o' alien', which beautifully cataloged much o' the pre-production (and some production) art created for the film; the movie tie-in, which told the entire film through stills and printed dialogue; and this here, which i regard as one o' the 1st genuine graphic novels decades later i stumbled across the movie tie-in at a used book store just down the hill from where i had abandoned mine, and still in GREAT condition - hell, it could've even been my old copy ! and now, by the grace o' the godz o' impeccable taste, the missing 2 have been reprinted ! upon receiving the books i xperienced the best color-inspired flashbacks that i have had in a loooooooooong time. thank you titanbooks !!!

This is a reprint of the 1979 Heavy Metal Comics comic book adaption of Alien. Original copies are few and far between, with prices rising for beat up copies. Save your money, this is exactly the same book, unless you're that much of a collector. As far as the book itself, it's pretty large in size, height-wise. It's a thin book, well bound. It reads much like any comic adaption of a film. There's a great attention to detail and the format of the comic is interesting, certain events take up most of the page and go out of the panels. The colors are great and a lot of the characters look pretty much true to their screen counterparts. As far as I can tell it doesn't stray from the movie's story at all, though I imagine many fans like myself would like to see the Director's Cut being the main source for books such as this. All in all it is an excellent book and worth the money!

Perfect

Gorgeous work. Captures the mood and the visual design of the film.

After ordering in March I had to wait until October to finally get my hands on the much anticipated Alien: Illustrated Story (original Art Edition) It compliments my copy from the 1980's wonderfully. That was in full color, but this is the artist edition, black and white, scanned from the original comic strip art boards the artist Walt Simonson kept. Despite being in black and white, pre-colouring, the book is actually in full colour, allowing you to see the bluish hue of white out used to correct mistakes, and even what looks like the odd coffee spill! It's also printed actual size, so the book is huge! (only complaint- I don't have a shelf it will fit on!) A fantastic reference for any comic artist, comic fan or fan of the film Alien, as it shows the art as it would have looked, and includes samples of the script (by Archie Goodwin) based on the screenplay including some ideas that didn't make it into the final film which will be of interest to ALIEN fans. There's also a Q and A which reveals how the book came about, the process and Walt's trip to England to see the film being made. A fantastic book, one of the best I have (well I am a fan) and for the price I bought it at (half price!) an absolute steal! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Grande, papel de calidad, ilustraciones restauradas con perfiles y colores muy definidos. Muy bien hecho. Todo lo que toca Titan Books acaba convertido en un producto de gran calidad. Puede que me pueda la nostalgia (leí este comic en el 81!) pero es que la re edición es fantástica comparada con el viejo cómic.

ずいぶん前に日本語版を所有していましたが、あらためてオリジナルの英語版が入手できて感激しました。きれいな製本、イラストのカラー発色もより鮮やかで、よい本でした。ありがとうございました。